How To Apply Fertilizer
Fertilizer comes in two forms – liquid and granular. Both are equally effective at fertilizing lawns, however they both have their pros and cons.
Liquid fertilizers work fast, as the fertilizer is quickly absorbed into the roots of the turf. However, liquid fertilizer needs to be applied more frequently and there is a higher chance of burning the lawn if you apply too much fertilizer.
Granular fertilizers are slower to absorb into the soil and roots, meaning it will take longer to improve the health of plants and grass. But, granular fertilizers do not need to be applied as often and there is less chance of burning the lawn.
Liquid fertilizers are often mixed with water in a hand pump sprayer or backpack sprayer, then sprayed onto lawns. Some liquid fertilizers can even be attached to a hose for easy application.
Granular fertilizers are applied to lawns and plant beds with a granular spreader. The lawn should be damp before applying the granules and then watered after the granules have been spread to activate the granules. Be careful not to apply granules in the full summer sun as that can cause fertilizer burn to the lawn.
Learn how to mix and apply liquids and granules in our helpful guide here. For all fertilizers, be sure to read the label of the bottle or bag to ensure the fertilizer is compatible with your grass type and to learn how much to use at a time. Remember, more fertilizer than recommended does not mean faster results.
Best Conditions To Fertilize Your Lawn
1. Wait until your soil temps are warm enough in early spring before applying. Fertilizer works best once the soil temperature reaches 55 degrees. Dont waste your time or money by applying too early.
To find average soil temps based on your specific location check out Green Cast Online. It takes about 10 seconds to find when soil temps usually approach 55 degrees in your region. This is when you want to apply your first treatment.
2. Fertilize your lawn when there is a light rain expected. Since fertilizer needs to be watered in to be effective, wait until the forecast calls for a light rain. Just be sure to avoid heavy rains that will cause the fertilizer to run off.
3. Avoid applying fertilizer during the heat of the day, hot spells, or periods of drought. This could cause your lawn to burn. Instead, apply in the morning or late afternoon and when your arent experiencing extreme weather conditions.
Understanding When To Apply Fertilizer
I recommend fertilizing your lawn four times annually with an organic, slow-release lawn fertilizer.
Your first application of fertilizer is best applied early in the season when grass has just started to grow.
This gives your grass a boost of nutrients early to help it take root and green up very quickly. When applied with a good pre-emergent herbicide , you allow your lawn to crowd out annual weeds every single year.
The rule of thumb is to apply your first batch of fertilizer when your soil hits 55-degrees Fahrenheit.
Usually, you can tell when the soil reaches temperature when lilacs bloom and grasses begin to sprout.
For more assurance, you can get a lawn thermometer at your hardware store or garden center, or you can buy one online .
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Your First Fertilizer Application Should Take Place In Early Spring
Fertilize your lawn in early spring when your grass first begins to grow. In northeast Ohio, this is typically between March and April when temperatures start consistently staying near 50 degrees. Also consider a weed control application at the same time. Getting ahead of weeds before they germinate can help prevent them from taking over your lawn. A second application of both products should be used in late spring before it gets too hot.
Calculate Your Lawn Space
- First, you must determine how much fertilizer you need to properly feed your lawn. To do this, you’ll need to calculate the square footage of your lawn space. You dont need to measure areas without grass, such as flower beds and walkways. A measuring wheel makes measuring your lawn easier.
- If your lawn is rectangular, multiply the length and width to get the total square footage. If you have an irregularly shaped lawn, or one containing a lot of islands, divide the space into rectangular sections. Multiply the length and width of each section, then add up the sums to get the total square footage.
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What Fertilizer To Use After Overseeding
After overseeding your lawn, apply a lawn starter fertilizer to provide grass seedlings with the nutrients they need to establish themselves. Do not substitute lawn starter with a fertilizer meant for mature grass. Mature grass fertilizer doesnt contain the nutrients new grass needs to develop roots. Similarly, avoid using weed and feed fertilizers. These products will kill your grass seedlings.
Reasons For Fertilizing New Grass
Fertilizers consist of the most crucial nutrients that are needed when growing a new lawn. So, applying the right fertilizer into your soil before seeding the grass will offer a great boost to the process.
Here are some other scenarios when a fertilizer would be useful:
- Lack of direct sun: Most lawns need four to six hours of direct sun to thrive.
- Rare watering: If you cant often water or dont have an automatic irrigation system, then fertilizer might help make up for that.
- Speeding things up: Its not a secret that fertilizers are commonly used to speed up the growth rate of plants, and a new lawn is no exception.
- Avoid lawn problems: High-quality fertilizer makes your soil more resistant to erosion, brown patches, lawn fungus, red thread, snow mold, and summer patching.
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Best Time To Fertilize Your Lawn
More daylight and warmer temperatures are perfect for fertilizing and the Spring season provides these features. This is the best time for craving your grass after a cold winter. If you cant identify the exact time, you can base it off of the temperature. Mostly, the temperature of the ground should be around 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on the place, the best time to fertilize varies from March to April. Its also good if the yard is watered naturally or artificially a few days before to apply the fertilizer. But applying more fertilizer can be the cause of harm to your lawn. You should use a lawn mower to prepare your lawn if your lawn is big.
When Should I Fertilize My Ottawa Lawn
How often do you feed your lawn? It may seem like a funny question, but in order to keep your Ottawa lawn healthy and vibrant, you need to feed it nutrients regularly. Elements like phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen need to be added to your lawn in order to keep it lush and green. Fertilizers are the most common way to feed your lawn, but just what type of nutrient combination does your unique lawn need? If you’re struggling to find a fertilizer that’s right for your Ottawa property, don’t worry the home sprinkler system installers at Nutri-Lawn can design a fertilizer treatment to satisfy the cravings of any Ottawa area lawn.
Understanding the Needs of Your Lawn Ottawa residents will have either warm-season or cool-season grass planted on their property. Each of these grasses has its own growing season, and therefore each requires a different fertilization schedule.
Things to Remember About Fertilizers
1) Many fertilizers on the market are “combination” treatments. Why target just one aspect of your lawn when you can address multiple issues at the same time? At Nutri-Lawn, we can design a fertilizer treatment that also controls moss, manages weeds, or targets common pests. Think your lawn could benefit from a combo-pack treatment? Then Contact a Nutri-Lawn sprinkler system and lawn care professional today to schedule a free lawn care consultation.
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What Order Should You Follow
Lawn owners spread seeds and fertilizer in different ways some do the one first, and the other next, and some in the reverse direction. However, you can apply both the items separately, if seeds immediately, following the fertilizer next. It does not matter which order you follow to spread seeds first or next.
Two methods you can follow for the better results.
Method-1: You can apply fertilizer first. But, you have to ensure overseeding your lawn at least 6-8 week after spreading fertilizer.
Method-2: You can also plan to apply fertilizer after a certain time later from the overseeding on your lawn. You need to give attention to the seedgermination and their growth so that you can apply starter fertilizer according to the grass type you like to grow.
But make sure that, before overseeding, you have to aerate your ground carefully.
Scotts 23100 Turf Builder Starter Food For New Grass
If you are going to establish a new lawn then you must give a try to this fertilizer formulated by Scotts.
This liquid fertilizer is particularly made to feed the newly emerging seedlings supports both the root and foliage growth.
It has not any effects to harm your plants like a burn and well safer to use o young developing shoots. By applying this fertilizer you will get 75% thicker and 35% quicker growth than other fertilizers.
It is a perfect feed not only for new lawns but also for installing sod, reseeding, or filling the empty patches in your lawn.
Hence it is a ready fertilizer and you dont need to mix anything before application.
The application is very easy through the garden hose just simply attaching to it. To get the maximum result first application should be done just after the seed sprouting, then apply at a one-week interval.
It covers spraying on 1800 sq. ft. of your lawn area.
You can say that it is perfect for all types of grasses transform their color to make your lawn more attractive. It is the best thing for lawn lovers to develop a beautiful new one.
Pros
- Less coveragenRequires feeding three timesn
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Determining The Type And Amount Of Fertilizer For Your New Grass
Since the fertilizer you choose should be based on soil makeup and growth area, start by learning those two things.
Measure the square footage of the new grass youre trying to grow in order to determine how much fertilizer you need to purchase. Then get a soil test done to learn which nutrients are present in your soil and which ones youre lacking.
Having a soil test done may sound complicated, scary, expensive or all three, but its actually really easy. In most areas, there are a number of options available to you. Texas A& M even allows you to send in soil samples and get results back!
Once you know the makeup of your soil, you can determine which fertilizer ratio is best for your lawn. Many homeowners discover that their lawns already contain enough phosphorous and potassium and opt for nitrogen-only fertilizer.
If you do use phosphorous, be careful. Phosphorous levels can easily build up too much in soil, resulting in runoff that ends up in surface waters. This is bad for the environment because it can harm fish habitats and increase algal blooms.
Some homeowners are also looking for advice on choosing an eco-friendly fertilizer for your lawn. As more options become available, organic fertilizers have grown in popularity as individuals are working to find a balance between growing and maintaining a healthy lawn and minimizing the use of chemical products on their property.
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Simple Lawn Solutions Extreme Grass Growth Lawn Booster
If you are searching for a product having the ability to boost up the growth of your lawn then you do not need to worry more. This product can meet your dreams.
It has a blended formula along with fulvic and humic acid which improves the soil quality.
Healthier soil will produce a healthy plant. It boosts the growth of your lawn as well as keeps improving soil fertility.
It is formulated in a complete manner of nitrogen and phosphorus to increase the vertical growth of plants.
The main benefit is the ability of this formulation to improves the sod formation and new seeding which will improve the lawn grass thickness.
This product is manufactured in the U.S.A and is suitable for all types of grasses.
It is very much environmentally friendly having no harm to pets and kids.
The hose-end sprayer also improves the performance by equally spraying the solution on the spot.
The basic thing that needs to keep in mind during its application is that if you want to apply and weed killer to your lawn then you should apply this fertilizer at least 7-10 days after the weed killer.
Pros
It is a premium liquid lawn food supplement having nitrogen and potassium in a good proportion to support your lawn grass to keep it green.
It is totally free of phosphate which will improve the soil resistance and sensitivity towards heat and cold.
The organic ingredients in this product encourage soil health, strength, and nutrient availability to the plants growing in it.
ProsPros
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Avoid Weed And Feed Products
Weed and feed products are a death knell for grass seed. This is due to the fact that most weed and feed combines fertilizer with pre-emergent herbicide. This type of herbicide attacks all types of plant seeds, killing them as they germinate. If you spread weed and feed on a lawn that has been overseeded in the past 8 weeks, it can kill all the grass seedlings there.
- Weed and feed products contain pre-emergent herbicides that kill grass seeds as they sprout.
- Do not apply weed and feed to a lawn that has been overseeded in the past 8 weeks.
- Do not overseed if you have applied weed and feed in the past 12 weeks.
The herbicide in weed and feed is designed to linger in the soil for up to 3 months. If you have already applied weed and feed, dont overseed your lawn for at least 12 weeks. The herbicide in the soil will attack every type of grass seed.
How Soon You Can Fertilize After Seeding Your Lawn
Its not always after seeding that you should apply fertilizerthe best time to fertilize is right before or during the seeding process. Use a starter fertilizer with quick-release nitrogen since that will give the seeds a nutritional boost. When you make fertilizer a part of the seeding process, your grass will grow quicker and is more likely to end up healthy and lush.
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Go For Slow Release Fertilizers
Synthetic fertilizers are usually of two types. Slow-release and quick release. Quick-release fertilizers go into action almost immediately after they are applied. Whereas, slow-release fertilizers work over a long period of time.
Asides that, slow-release fertilizers usually have a gentle impact on the turfgrass, and unlike quick release fertilizers, they pose minimal risk of burning to your grass.
The Fertilizer Buyer’s Guide
Just like people and animals, grass and plants require nutrients to grow. Most grass and plants do not naturally produce enough of the nutrients they need to thrive, which can result in browning, wilting, and fewer blooms. Fortunately, fertilizers can give foliage a boost of vitamins and minerals through nutrients to increase the health of the plant.
Healthy lawns are better equipped to resist disease, weeds, and pests which is why it is so important to increase the nutrients in turf and soil.
Read this guide to learn everything you need to know before selecting a fertilizer for your lawn including:
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Why Does Overseeding Need At Your Lawn
When grasses become older after few years, mature grasses start to slow down their reproduction rate naturally. The grasss blades naturally live 45-60 days. Moreover, young grass can produce tillers faster than the older. The young grass is a top secret behind of managing a healthy, greenly, and thickly lawn, and the patience of overseeding is the easiest formula to keep the grass young on the lawn.
However, overseeding is needed for a lawn for many reasons which are as below:
01. It is an easy way to fill up the undecorated areas of the lawn.
02. Sometimes, grasses do not grow accordingly due to some factors like weather, neighborhood dogs etc.
03. It helps to improve the density of the grasses on the lawn, and also prevents weeds to grow from the grassroots.
04. It improves the color and appearance of the lawn.
Why Fertilize Your Lawn In Fall The Best Fall Month And Time Of Day To Fertilize
Summer heat is stressful on our lawns. Falls cooler temperatures provide the perfect setting for lawn to regain strength.
Fall is the best and most important time to fertilize your lawn because:
- Falls morning dew delivers moisture to help turf absorb the fertilizer.
- The grass has a chance to build stamina before a chilly winter.
- Supporting root growth in fall leads to a healthier, greener lawn in spring.
While fall is naturally good for feeding our lawn, you can deliver an extra oomph by fertilizing as best as you can, too.
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Can You Put Fertilizer Down With Grass Seed
If you want to make your seeding and fertilizing processes more efficient, you can spread your grass seed and lawn starter simultaneously. Simply measure out the correct amount of seed and fertilizer for the square footage you are overseeding, mix the fertilizer and seed thoroughly, and add them both to this lawn spreader. Make sure to spread the seed and fertilizer evenly across your lawn, following an east-west pattern followed by a north-south pattern for proper coverage.
